Legacy
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Legacy Era Campaign Guide See also: Destiny, Heroic Traits A Legacy forms whenever great Destinies pass from one generation to the next. As Master Yoda might say, one great individual does not a Legacy make. Within the Star Wars saga, Legacies are borne by families whose names are legendary: Skywalker, Solo, Organa, Antilles. A Legacy lives or dies by the deeds of everyone who bears the family name. Individuals with a family Legacy can choose to live up to the ideals set by their forebears, endeavor to surpass their legendary ancestors, or escape the Destinies laid before them. A Legacy suggests a birthright that one can choose to embrace or discard. It can create instantaneous enemies or allies. It also invokes instantaneous respect or fear. Many heroes and villains get by just fine without a family Legacy to further define them, and a Legacy does not necessarily make a character inherently more powerful. Adventuring groups will likely have a mix of characters- some with histories tied to characters from past eras, others with no such connections. If you choose to build a character around a Legacy, then these are the rules for you. Choosing a Legacy Once you decide that your character has a family legacy, you can either invent a new Legacy that best serves your character, or you can adopt a Legacy that already exists in the Star Wars milieu. Both options lead to great roleplaying opportunities. In either case, you need to take time to identify the key figures from earlier generations of your character's family- parents, grandparents, and so on- who made their mark on the galaxy. Then you need to determine the extent to which your character's Destiny overlaps with theirs. The easiest way to connect your character to a Legacy is to adopt a known family name. The Star Wars saga is full of them, and you have access to virtually any name used in almost any era. If you've played campaigns set in earlier Star Wars eras, consider reusing the family name of one of your past characters, and build on that Legacy. Establishing connections to the past gives your character hooks around which the Gamemaster can hang adventures. For example, if your character descends from a legendary noble family, he or she can take advantage of longstanding family alliances. Conversely, your character might also need to contend with ancient blood feuds and rivalries. Legacy and Lineage By their very nature, Legacies require a strong family association. The following guidelines will help you establish your character's Legacy: * Don't be afraid to connect your character's Legacy to Star Wars characters from the movies and the Expanded Universe, but get your Gamemaster's permission before doing so. See Established Legacies, below, for a list of good examples. * Try to connect your family's Legacy to some important event in the past. This event might be a space battle, a betrayal, an invasion, a death, or something else that could influence your character's actions in the present time period. The more dramatic the event, the more it can help define your character's personality. * Create a brief family history, going back at least a generation or two. Figure out who your closest relatives are, and where they are now. Determine your attitude toward them and what they stand for. * Think of an organization with which your family is associated, such as The Kilian Rangers or The Jedi Order. Maybe the organization owes your family a debt of gratitude, or vice versa. Also think about rival organizations and the underlying reason for their hostility toward your family. * Determine your relationship to the other characters in your group, and how their own Legacies might intertwine with your own current plans or past history. * Consider taking The Legacy Destiny (See below). Gamemasters are encouraged to integrate Legacies into the campaign by including allies and enemies tied to each character's Legacy, and by allowing characters the opportunity to interact with members of organizations that have historical ties to their families. Famous Legacies vs Canon One big advantage of playing in The Legacy Era is that players can play heroes belonging to famous families. However, some Gamemasters (And players, too) might get hung up on the fact that certain characters in the Legacy comics already "Carry the Torch" for particular families (Such as Cade Skywalker and Roan Fel). Stickers for continuity might be reluctant to allow characters access to these Legacies for fear of bringing their campaigns into conflict with official canon stories. Gamemasters are urged to let players choose Legacies they wish, headless of canon. As Cade Skywalker blasts his way across the galaxy, there's no reason why a player cannot also play a member of the Skywalker Legacy, provided the player can work with the Gamemaster to devise a compatible background for his or her character. One important thing for Gamemasters and players to remember is that being a descendant of a famous character from Star Wars history does not always mean being a direct descendant. A character with the Solo Legacy might be descended from a distant branch of the Solo family tree, with closer ties to Thrackan Sal-Solo than Han Solo, for instance. Since The Legacy Era is far forward in Star Wars continuity, a hero might be several branches removed from his or her famous ancestors. As long as the player can come up with an interesting reason for his or her character to have a particular Legacy, the Gamemaster should consider allowing it to pass without worrying too much about fitting it into established continuity. In the end, the player will feel like he or she is truly playing a hero of the Star Wars universe. Creating a Legacy Character The rules for creating characters with Legacies are tied to the Destiny system. Since the Destiny system is considered optional, the Gamemaster must choose whether to include the rules for Legacies or not. If you choose not to allow these rules in your campaign, you can still encourage your players to design characters from famous lineages, taking advantage of the story opportunities for Legacy characters without using the game mechanics. When a player wishes to play a character with a Legacy, he or she may choose The Legacy Destiny (See below). The Legacy Destiny has its own benefits and drawbacks, as do all Destinies, but characters with The Legacy Destiny also gain access to a special use for Destiny Points. When a player selects The Legacy Destiny for his or her character, he or she must choose a Legacy from the list of sample Legacises presented below (See Established Legacies) or work with the Gamemaster to create a new Legacy with it's own mechanical benefits and drawbacks (See Creating Your Own Legacies, below). Gamemasters have final say as to whether or not a given character can choose a particular Legacy based on the needs of the campaign. Many Legacy effects allow you to spend a Destiny Point to get a 20 on a Skill Check without having to roll; this is not considered a "Natural 20" for the purposes of any other effect, such as regaining Force Powers or Starship Maneuvers. The Legacy Destiny This section introduces a new kind of Destiny: The Legacy Destiny. The same rules that apply to Destinies also apply to The Legacy Destiny. In addition, there are some special bonuses and penalties that apply as well, depending on whether your character chooses to Embrace or Deny their Legacy. Unlike other Destinies, a Legacy Destiny does not grant permanent benefits once the Destiny is fulfilled. Instead, a character with The Legacy Destiny gains a special benefit whenever he or she spends a Destiny Point: the exact benefit depends on the character's Legacy (See Established Legacies, below). Using the Legacy Destiny A hero fated to uphold a family Legacy might refuse to acknowledge it and, by their actions, undermine it. Conversely, a character who has sworn to deny his family's Legacy might be driven to perform acts in keeping with the greatest deeds of his or her ancestors. From a character development and plot standpoint, the resulting tension and conflict can be very dramatic. However, the Legacy mechanic is structured in a way that penalizes and deters players from taking such actions. If a player wishes to fight against a Legacy mainly for character development or plot purposes, and the Gamemaster does not wish to constantly penalize the character for good roleplaying, the GM may apply the bonuses and penalties only at dramatic or climactic points in an adventure, ignoring them during smaller encounters. Embracing Your Legacy If you Embrace Your Legacy, you must take actions that further your family's cause, beliefs, or organization. This might be through promoting a belief system, keeping an organization intact and viable, or even directly carrying out stated tasks or orders. An example of this Legacy would be to uphold the ideals of The Jedi Order as previous generations of your family have done. Destiny Bonus: When a character completes a goal or performs an act worthy of their family's Legacy, they gain a +2 Destiny bonus to a single attack roll or skill check of their choice made in the next 24 hours. Destiny Penalty: When a character does something unworthy of their family's Legacy, they take a -2 penalty on their first attack roll in any given encounter for the next 24 hours. Denying Your Legacy If you Deny Your Legacy, you must select actions that fly in the face of an ancestor's cause, belief, or organization. You only gain bonuses when actively working against your Legacy or making a conscious effort to walk away from an action that would advance your Legacy. An example of this Legacy would be Cade Skywalker's early efforts to shun the path of The Jedi. Destiny Bonus: When a character performs an act unworthy of their family's Legacy, they gain a +2 Destiny bonus to a single attack roll or skill check of their choice made in the next 24 hours. Destiny Penalty: When a character completes a goal or performs an act worthy of their family's Legacy, they take a -2 penalty on their first attack roll in any given encounter for the next 24 hours. Switching Between Embracing and Denying Your Legacy Circumstances might conspire to change a hero's outlook regarding their family Legacy. Such a dramatic shift in attitude could be a climactic moment in a campaign or adventure, sending the hero off in a completely different direction, possibly turning enemies into allies and vice versa. Once switched, a hero is unlikely to return to his or her original path, and should be discouraged from doing so. A character who switches from Embracing their Legacy to Denying their Legacy, or vice versa, suffers the following effects for the next 24 hours: * The character does not gain the benefits of moral or insight bonuses, including those granted by Talents and Feats. * The character cannot reroll skill checks or attack rolls, regardless of whether the reroll is granted by a Talent, Feat, Species Trait, or any other source. Established Legacies This list includes recurring names that appear throughout the Star Wars saga. A player might decide to choose a name with less widespread recognition- such as Jinn or Mothma. In some cultures, clan affiliations are more important and have survived for centuries. Creating Your Own Legacies The Established Legacies presented above are far from exhaustive, and Gamemasters might wish to create their own Legacies to fit the needs of heroes in their campaigns. Creating a new Legacy is not a precise exercise, but the following steps should make it easy for Gamemasters to create new Legacies with balanced mechanics. # Pick a Lineage: The first step in creating a Legacy is determining the family upon which the Legacy rests. Typically, a Legacy should hearken back to an important figure in Star Wars lore, such as a major character in a comic book, novel, film, or video game. However, Gamemasters should feel free to create Legacies for popular characters from past campaigns, or even heroes from previous adventurers set in past eras. Some players will enjoy playing heroes descended from previous characters and may associate more strongly with a previous character's Legacy because of their intimate familiarity with that character's deeds. # Consider Legacy Restrictions: A Legacy might have some restrictions on who can choose it. Only Species restrictions apply to the Legacies presented in this section, and Gamemasters are cautioned not to apply any more restrictions than necessary. # Create a Destiny Point Use: The most important aspect of the Legacy mechanic is the new use for Destiny Points. Each Legacy allows one new use for a Destiny Point, which should be unique to that Legacy. Choosing a Destiny Point mechanic can be tricky, but the mechanic should be close in power and function to the ones presented in Established Legacies, above. Some examples of applicable mechanics are those that grant automatic high rolls on attack rolls and skill checks, those that negate the devastating effects of other characters, and those that let the hero do something beyond what they otherwise accomplish. Additionally, the Destiny Point mechanic should be something appropriate only to the Legacy; for example, Legacies of characters who are renowned pilots grant automatic high rolls on Pilot checks, while powerful Force-users gain automatic high rolls on Use the Force checks.